SWINE FLU

Uncle Frankie is back in circulation. My parents say he showed up for a while yesterday. He & my father made it to the game last night even though the weather was bad. The stationery next door to O.L. Mt. Carmel is opened again but when I went there this morning to get the Citizen's Voice the girl said she didn't have it. I went to Turkey Hill in Exeter & got it & a full tank of gas. Tomorrow is Frank's birthday. He's an old friend from 92 Street & St. Gabriel's. He's two years older than I. His sister Madeline & I were in the same class. The swine flue still hovers over us. Places have notices about safety precautions. I just noticed at church lately, that the Diocese of Scranton has all sorts of new directives to avoid risk. There are posters on doors in the churches. Columbus Day is coming up on Monday. I suppose we shall have to be ready for all the inevitable subversive left wing protests.

LOUSY WEATHER

My car has been working quite smoothly since I got the new battery put in yesterday. Uncle Frankie has been ill lately. That's why he hasn't shown up in quite a while. Today would have been Beatle John's sixty ninth birthday. Even though he's been dead for practically thirty years the infamous Swain of Liverpool still stirs up lots of controversy. It's been bitter cold & raining all day today. Our Friday dance won't be even the least bit enjoyable this time around. I don't know whether this week's football game is tonight or tomorrow but I don't envy anyone who has to show up tonight. It's snowing in Colorado but at least I've found out that it's very nice in California & Virginia. I'm still reading the book by Umberto Eco & the one by Bill Donohue. I shall soon get back to the Carmelite books too.

BIG CAR TROUBLES

Yesterday went quite well. It was rather an uneventful day until I tried to leave O.L. Mt. Carmel last night. Ada was the only one who wasn't available for the meeting. She went to a G.O.P. fund raiser. Fr. Jackson, Lynn, Jonathan & Neil were there. We talked about angels. Lynn gave us a copy of an old speech, by Pope John Paul II, about angels. There was a band, in the auditorium, practicing for an upcoming event. They were too loud. At around 8:30 we ended up deciding that it was time to leave. Everyone went out into the parking lot together. I was the first to try to go home. When I tried to start my car I noticed that the battery was dead. I got the other people to jump it for me with their cables. When I got up this morning my father & I went to Sears in Wilkes_Barre to get a new battery. The mechanic who was supposed to do the job wasn't available. He was about two hours late. It all ended fairly well. It was just too annoying.

BARNES & NOBLE

The weather is like March now for most of each day. It's frequently a little too windy though. It rained all night last night. Unfortunately my cough is still here. Other than that this would be a perfect time. Tonight I have to go to the meeting in Pittston. Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble over in Wilkes_Barre. As usual, it was the one by the mall. There's always trouble construction & traffic congestion all over the place these days so the trip each way was more than slightly annoying. I'm now reading Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" & Bill Donohue's "Secular Sabotage: How Liberals Are Destroying Religion and Culture in America". Today is my cousin Patrizia's birthday. We've never met in person but we're in touch on Facebook.

ATE CANDY

My annoying cough continues. I've been trying all sorts of things to tone it down. Tomorrow I have to go back to the next meeting at O.L. Mt. Carmel in Pittston. Ada was just telling me this morning that she won't be able to make it because she has to go to a G.O.P. fund raiser. She said that we shall be getting some new people. Uncle Frankie showed up yesterday when I wasn't around. He left some candy bars that he got while visiting Fran over the weekend. I made sure I ate one. It's some obscure company I've never even heard of before. Today is Gary's birthday. He & I have never met in person but we're on each other's friends lists on Facebook. He's a DJ over in Missouri on Alice 95.5 It's also Gerard's birthday. He's an old friend from St. Gabriel's, now on my Facebook friends list.

LECTORED YESTERDAY

The game was on Saturday morning but only Uncle Frankie went. My father was too tired & their friend Tony wasn't available. I'm still practicing my guitar on quite a regular basis. Because I no longer have a variety of sheet music to choose from it can get quite predictable. My persistent cough is also truly beginning to get more than a little annoying. I made sure I drank some tea with honey on Saturday. That seemed to have helped a little bit. I've always really liked tea but somehow I've not been in the habit of drinking it over the course of the past many years. The weather these days is unpredictable. Over the course of any single day it can be both bitter cold & exceptionally warm within hours. We also have frequent rainstorms & showers. Yesterday I lectored at 10:30 Mass. All went well.